Thanks for the warning

I had him ... almost

Dang it, I sent a question to Sendmejackson today only to have him reply to me with the following "...I'll make some enquiries!" This is coming from a guy who used a word in a beginning jitterbug lesson that neither I nor Schmendrick knew. I pride myself on a good vocabulary, and Schmendrick has a slightly better one than mine. I can't remember what the word was, but when I looked it up later, it was exactly the correct word to use.

I had him ... or so I thought. Enquiries is a word. Darn! At least I have a bigger vocabulary now than when the day began.

Four more wins to go!

So my brackets got blown to bits when Wisconsin went down to UNLV today.

Am I concerned? Well, yes I am...

...but if I weren't, it would be because my beloved Salukis won again, and are on their way to the Sweet 16. They beat up on Virginia Tech (again) today 63-48.

Next up, the Candyass Jaywalks, I mean the Kansas Jayhawks, sorry about that. A team that is beatable as evidenced by them losing at home to Venche's beloved ORU Golden Eagles earlier this season.

Okay Salukis, they showed us the way, let's go get 'em!
edit #2

The power of prayer ... almost

I completely believe in the power of prayer ... almost. There is one slight exception. I find it difficult to pray (and believe it) for my own well being ... sort of.

Okay, so I'm not being clear.

When someone asks me to pray for them, or even if they don't ask, and I pray for them, I can easily pray with confidence and belief that God will provide the best solution for all involved. I know God is listening, concerned, and that my prayers will be responded to.

When I pray for something I want for myself, it is generally for something medium to long term that will include my improvement as a human being. For instance, praying for more patience, praying for more financial responsibility, or praying to give up something (like computer games). I have faith in these situations too. I will even pray for things that people might consider sinful, it being an exercise in giving my earthly desires to God.

Even if my prayers are not answered, I can accept 'no' or 'not yet', because I know God has the best interest of His creation in mind. I literally have no complaints if everything I have been given is gone tomorrow. God gave me a second (third, fourth, nth) chance to be His, and it is all that really matters.

Which brings me to the part I have trouble praying for. When I have some short term need, like a migraine, lack of motivation, an immediate worry, or my favorite old standby: paranoia. I just cannot let go and give it to God. (this has been tough to write) That is when I rely on YOU my friends. I lack the confidence to believe that God will listen to my immediate concerns, but I sure believe He is listening to yours.

I will try to do a better job of asking for your prayerful help, but don't wait on it, if you see me struggling, pray with me, pray for me. I will be there with prayers for you when I see you struggling.

Hmmm ... I wonder if praying for a long term solution to my short-term prayer difficulties is cheating?

Another Night, Another Dream

In this dream I lived in a little house or apartment, and three houses down from me lived Spanky and Mae, at the end of the block was a school. I went outside, and for a while Spanky and I were having a snowball in our backyards, that ended suddenly, and Mae and I were walking out front down the block by the school. The school had a new attachment that neither of of us noticed being built. It turned out to be a Catholic education building co-located with the public school.

**aside* for those of you that think this is a ridiculous violation of the separation of church and state, when I lived in Utah, almost all public schools had a building next door to them that was owned by the Mormon (LDS) church, and the students were able to have time during the day to go next door and get religious education, and then come back.*

Back to the dream. I decided to investigate the building, Mae went her way, and I walked in and met one of the teachers who toured me around her class. I didn't interact with any of the kids, just the teachers and staff. While I was there, it was time for the kids to have their in-day Mass. I was recruited into working the service by the priest. When time came for Communion, the priest kept dropping the sanctified bread and leaving it there. Not to get into a huge transubstantiation debate, but holy cow, that is a HUGE no-no, so I was picking up all of the dropped bread, and I kept worrying that I missed a piece of the dropped body of Christ. The priest left and I had to serve the last few communion takers, and clean up (I have never been either an altar boy or served the bread and wine in church) so I was fumbling around hoping I got everything right.

Once that was over, I went to say goodbye to the teacher who had given me the tour, but I was told that she had died. Back outside, I ran into Mae again on the way home and told her about the lady who died.
Mae said "Oh, I knew her, I beat her in the state badmitton (or tennis) tourney just a couple days ago."
"I didn't know you were champion." I replied.
"When you are good, you don't have to brag." she said.
Then she went into her house, and I went to my apartment and the dream ended.

The dream had the usual interesting detail and references to other dreams I have had, however this seemed to be another dream unlike any I remember. Two in one week. The building I went into was very familiar, but I can't put my finger on where I had seen it before.